Colin McRae Rally 04 (J2ME)

Colin McRae Rally 04
Developer: 8bit Games Ltd Publisher: Synergenix Interactive Platform: J2ME Released internationally: April 27, 2004 This game has unused graphics. This game has revisional differences.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

Colin McRae goes rallying for the first time on mobile phones!

Unused Graphics

These images can only be found in the 176x208 versions of the game.

FE\subaru.png is a preview image of a Subaru Impreza 22B STI, a car which doesn't have any other references or associated data in this game.

Another unused file is arrow.png, found in the same directory. The final game uses a larger design for the arrows, even in lower resolution versions.

Version Differences

At least four versions of the game are known to exist:

• A full 176x208 version (176x208 A)
• A downgraded 176x208 version (176x208 B)
• A 128x128 version
• A 96x65 version

A table comparing these versions can be seen below:

	Version/Date	Tracks	Title Screen	Sound Effects	Car Characteristics	Track Previews	Car Setup	Particles
176x208 A	v1.0 - Apr 15 2004	5	Car	Yes	Yes	Yes	Car	Yes
176x208 B	v1.0 - Apr 15 2004	4	Car	No	Yes	Yes	Car	Yes
128x128	v1.2 - Apr 27 2004	4	No car	No	Yes	Yes	No car	No
96x65	v1.2 - Apr 27 2004	4	No car	No	No	No	No car	No

Menus

176x208	128x128	96x65

• The 176x208 releases feature a more detailed title screen, while the 128x128 and 96x65 releases opt for a more minimalistic approach.

176x208	128x128	96x65

• The 96x65 version does not show a car's characteristics.

176x208 A	176x208 B	128x128	96x65

• The full 176x208 release has different map graphics which highlight the sections of each of the available tracks, whereas the downgraded 176x208 and 128x128 versions use a single map file, and squares to mark the beginning and end of a track. The 96x65 version completely lacks map previews.

176x208	128x128	96x65

• The Car Setup menu does not display the player's car in the 128x128 and 96x65 versions.

Gameplay

176x208 A
176x208 B					N/A

• The full 176x208 release features a fifth level, which uses an unique snow tileset and smoke effect. While the data for these new graphics is absent from other versions, the maps for the remaining four tracks were adjusted so that the full map layout would still be used.

176x208 A	176x208 B	128x128	96x65

• Curiously, the full 176x208 release has premade graphics for each of the associated gears for the speedometer, whereas the numbers are overlaid on top of a single graphic in the other versions.
• The 128x128 and 96x65 versions lack particles.

176x208	128x128/96x65

• The 128x128 and 96x65 versions have less detailed tiles.
• To accomodate for the new layouts, as well as for performance issues, each of the tracks' record times were updated. The naming order was not changed, however.

	176x208 A	176x208 B	128x128	96x65
Track 1 (Jones -> Fortin -> Martinez -> Schmitz -> Minotti)	00:38 (14+12+12) 00:39 00:40 00:42 00:43	00:40 (14+11+15) 00:42 00:45 00:46 00:47	00:50 (16+17+17) 00:52 00:53 00:54 00:56	00:59 (19+20+20) 01:01 01:02 01:03 01:05
Track 2 (Jones -> Martinez -> Fortin -> Schmitz -> Minotti)	00:46 (15+10+21) 00:47 00:48 00:50 00:51	00:47 (16+11+20) 00:49 00:51 00:53 00:54	00:50 (15+14+21) 00:51 00:53 00:54 00:55	01:04 (19+21+24) 01:05 01:07 01:08 01:10
Track 3 (Jones -> Fortin -> Martinez -> Schmitz -> Minotti)	00:56 (12+20+22) 00:55 00:57 00:58 01:00	00:57 (14+18+25) 00:58 01:01 01:03 01:06	00:59 (15+20+24) 01:00 01:01 01:02 01:04	01:14 (23+25+26) 01:15 01:16 01:17 01:19
Track 4 (Jones -> Fortin -> Minotti -> Schmitz -> Martinez)	01:01 (18+21+22) 01:03 01:04 01:05 01:07	00:59 (17+21+21) 01:01 01:02 01:04 01:05	01:03 (20+22+21) 01:04 01:06 01:07 01:08	01:19 (26+26+27) 01:20 01:21 01:23 01:24
Track 5 (Jones -> Fortin -> Martinez -> Schmitz -> Minotti)	00:58 (17+19+22) 00:59 01:01 01:02 01:03	N/A	N/A	N/A